Media Access Control (MAC) addresses are unique identifiers associated with a given network device, and each defines a network interface for a network device on a physical or virtual network. MAC addresses are also referred to as burned-in address (BIA), an Ethernet hardware address (EHA), or a physical address. Conventional network devices are permanently assigned, by the device manufacturer, a unique MAC address, which is used as the device's network address for purposes of authentication to gain access to a network.
As the number of network devices continues to grow, so diminishes the number of available MAC addresses that can be used by device manufacturers. Certain manufacturers allow a temporary MAC address to be generated, via a randomization process, as a dynamic MAC address. Such scheme does not safeguard against accidental MAC address collisions and only reduces the likelihood of collisions from occurring. The issue of potential MAC address collision is worsened when the network device roams to a different network, exposing the network device to more network devices and increasing the possibility of a conflict.
MAC addresses can be leased from a pool of addresses. However, to fully enable the maximum use of leased MAC addresses within the pool, additional hardware and/or firmware resources that supports source MAC filtering may be needed to detect and avoid MAC-address collisions. And, in instances in which such collision hardware is implemented, the potential for ACK collision still exists.